Drugs: Hooking Some Big Fish

Hooking Some Big Fish

The scheme was known as Operation Pisces, and Attorney General Edwin Meese last week hailed it as "remarkable." So it was: the largest and most successful undercover ploy in federal drug law enforcement history. Acting simultaneously in Los Angeles, Miami and New York City, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officials reeled in some 80 smugglers, dealers and middlemen, and issued arrest warrants for about 35 more. An additional 351 people had already been nabbed on the basis of tips from the three-year operation. About $49 million in cash and property, along with 19,000 lbs. of cocaine with a street value of $270...